Driving mechanism for musical instruments.



F. A. DECKER.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3, 1915.

1,228,752. Patented June 5, 1917.

F. A. DECKER. I DRIVING MECHANISM FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 3. 1915- p Patented June 0,1917.

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F. A. DECKER.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR'MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3. 1.915.

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F. A. DECKER.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR MUSIC-AL INSTRUMENTS. APPLICATION men SEPT. 3, 19:5.

1,228,752. Patented J 11116 5, 1917.

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UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

FRANK A. DECKER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AS-SIGNOR T0 LYRACHORD COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

' Application filed September 3, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK A. DECKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Driving Mechanism for Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to driving mechanism for a musical instrument and has special reference to instruments in which provision is made for actuating the bellows at different times by foot-operated pedals and by a motor drive.

It is the object of my invention to provide improved and simplified connecting devices between the different parts of the driving mechanism, so designed that the movement of the pedals to operative position automatically renders the motor connections inoperative while the movement of said pedals to raised or inoperative position places the motor connections in operative condition.

A further feature of my invention relates 'to an improved construction and arrangement of the motor and its driving connections, relatively to the bellows and pedals, resulting in economy of space and simplicity of manufacture.

Further features of my invention relate to certain arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Preferred forms of my invention are shown in the drawings in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a player-piano with one form of my in vention applied thereto; I

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the parts shown in Fig. 1, the section being taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the pedals in inoperative position;

Fig. 4: is a detail front elevation of the motor-driven crank shaft and the worm drive therefor;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a portion of the operating connections shown in Fig. 2;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 5, 1917.

Serial No. 48,791.

Figs. 6 and 7 are side elevations, partly in section, similar to Fig. 2 and showing two modifications of my invention;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail elevation of a portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 7 1

Fig. 9 is a side elevation, partly in section, of an additional modification, and

Fig. 10 shows the mechanism of Fig. 7 as adapted to a grand piano.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the piano casing is indicated at 10, and is provided with the usual pedal door 10 which may be raised to permit the pedals to be swung outwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, or may be lowered after the pedals have been moved to the inoperative position shown in Fig. 3. The usual pumping bellows are mounted in the casing, said bellows each comprising a fixed leaf 11 (Fig. 2) and a movable leaf 12, the latter being mounted to swing at its upper edge. The wind trunk is indicated at 13 and is connected with the bellows in the usual way.

Each fixed leaf 11 carries a bracket 14 to which is pivoted an arm 15 which supports and positions the pedal base 16. The pedals 17 are pivoted at 18 to the base 16 and are connected near their upper ends to pedal links 19. The free end of each link 19 is connected to an arm 20 formed on a cross shaft 21 supported in bearings 22 mounted on the fixed leaf 11 of one of the pumping bellows.

The shaft 21 carries an adjustable arm 23 which in turn is connected by a link 24 to a bracket 25 secured to the rear face of the movable leaf 12. Through these connections, pressure upon the pedal 17 will force the leaf 12 backward, tension springs 26 being provided to swing the leaf 12 for ward. All of the parts thus far described are of the usual construction and form no part of my invention.

Between the two units of the pumping bellows I have mounted an electric motor 30 upon a supporting frame 31, the armature being coupled to a vertical shaft 32 rotatable in a bearing 33 on the frame 31 and having a worm 3 engaging a worm wheel 35 upon a crank shaft 36 (Fig. at) rotatable in bearings 37 on the frame 31. At

its opposite ends the crank shaft 36 is proided with crank arms 3S38 and crank pins 3939.

Each pedal link 19 is formed with an angularly disposed projection 19 at its free end and said projection is connected by loosely pivoted links i0 and 41 to one of the crank pins 39.

For successful operation itis necessary that the mechanism be readily ope able by the pedals 17 without regard to the angular position of the crank a ms 33 and pins 39, and it is also desirable that the pedals, when moved to operative position, shall be, immediately available without the necessity of manually disconnecting the motor drive. These results are obtained by the use of this mechanism as will now be explained.

Inspection of F 2 will show the crank pin 39 to be in its extreme rear position, while the pedal 17 is in its raised position. With the parts thus arranged the links 10 and 41 are substantially alined with each other. Depression of the pedal 17 will swing the projection 19 rearwardl and downwardly, and the links i0 and 11 will merely swing idly upon their pivots. This same result will. occur with the crank pin 39 in any other position, as any change in position will simply shorten the distance between the crank pin and the projection 19. The pedal 17 is thus freely operable to actuate the movable bellows leaf 12 without interference from the motor drive.

\Vhen the pedals are swung upward within the casing, as shown in Fig. 3, the projection 19 will swing downwardly and forwardly, thus lengthening the distance between the projection 19 and the crank pin 39. Reference to Fig. 3 will show that rotation of the crank pin under these conditions must result in swinging the arm 29 and the bellows leaf 12 rearwardlv during a portion of each revolution of the crank shaft. After the leaf l2 and the arm 20 have been returned to their extreme forward positions by the springs 26, further movement of the crank pin 39 will merely change the pivotal relation of the links l0 and d1. The motor-driven operative movement of the bellows leaf 12 is accompanied by a corresponding movement of the pedal 17 within the casing, as the pedal is still connected to the arm 20 by the link 19. Sufiicient space is rovided to accommodate such movement and no objection is found thereto.

It will thus appear that the connections described permit the instrument to be operated by the pedals 17 or the motor as desired, and that the movement of the pedals to operative or inoperat've position automatically renders the motor drive inoperati e or operative.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 6,

the pedal-operating devices are substantially similar to those previously described, the pedal 17 being connected by a pedal link 50 to the arm 20 carried by the shaft 21 and connected through the link to the bellows leaf 12.

In this form the connections from the crank pin 39 comprise a driving link 51 pivoted at one end upon the crank pin and having a lug 52 at its opposite end adapted to at times engage a stud c rried by the pedal link 50. lVhen the pedal is in the operative position shown in dotted lines in Fig. (5 the stud 53 is out of the path of the lug 52 and there is thus no 0 nnection between the pedal actuating mechanism and the motor drive. lVhen the pedals are moved to their inoperative position, as shown in full lines in Fig. (3, the stud 53 is also moved into position for engagement by the lug 52.

The free end of the driving link 51 is mounted to slide upon a guide block 54- supported upon a spring 55 carried by the piano casing 10. i

The curve of the guide block corresponds substantially to the path of travel of the stud 53 during the motor driven actuation of the bellows, the block thus acting to retain the lugs in driving engagement with the stud 53.

The spring 55 is provided in order trat the driving link 51 may depress the block 5 4- to permit the lug to pass under the stud 53 when first engaging therewith. The advanta es obtained by this construction are substantially simil 3 to those fully dedescribed with reference to the preferred form.

Referring to igs. 7 and 8, I have shown therein an additional modification in which the driving link (39 is dis-engaged from the crank pin 39 when the instrument is operated from the pedals. In this construction the pedal link 61 and the driving link are pivoted on a common stud G2 at the end of the arm 29. The link (30 is provided with a stud 6O adjacent the pivot 62, said stud being positioned for engagement with a shoulder 61 upon the pedal link 61 when the pedals are moved to operative position. Such engagement raises the lirk (30 to the dotted line position shown in .g. 7, in which position the link is removed froin the path of travel of the crank pin 39.

As the pedals are moved to inoperative position, the shoulder 61 moves away from the stud 60 thus permitting the link 0 to reengage he crank pin 39. In order that the link 60 may not swing downward out of the path of the crank pin 39, the link (30 is provided with a depending projection 60 adapted to engage a stop plate 63 carried by the casing 10, the plate preventing the link 60 from swinging below the center of the I crank shaft 36.

The driving link 60 is thus disconnected from the crank pin whenever the pedals are in operative position, and the driving connection is restored as the pedals are moved to their inoperative position.

In :Fig. 10, I have shown the mechanism 'just described, with slight modifications to adapt it for use in a grand piano. In this figure the pedal 7 0 is carried by a fall board 71 pivoted at 72 to the casing 73. The pedal is connected by a pedal link 74 to the lower end of a lever 75 mounted upon a fixed pivot 7 6. The lever 7 5 is arranged to actuate the pumping bellows through connections not shown. I

The motor drive is substantially as previ ously described and includes a crank shaft 7 7 provided with a crank pin 78. The driving link 7 9 is pivoted upon the stud carried by the lever 7 5 and also acting as a pivot for the pedal link 74:. A projection 7 1 upon the link 7 4- engages a stud 79 upon the link 79 and lifts said link out of engagement with the crank pin 78 when the pedals are moved to operative position. As the pedals are swung to inoperative position the link 7 9 is lowered for engagement with the crank pin 7 8', excessive downward movement being prevented by the engagement of a projection '79 of the link 79 with the inner surface of the fall board 71.

An additional modification of my invention is shown in Fig. 9 in which most of the operating parts are identical, with those shown in Figs. 1 and 5. In this form, however, the connection between the crank pin 39 and the bellows leaf 12 includes a flexible cord 90 secured at one end to the crank pin 39 and at the opposite end to a stud 91 carried by the base supporting arm 92. Between its ends the cord 90 passes over a guide pulley 93 mounted to rotate upon the pivotal connection of the pedal link 19 with the arm 20 upon the cross shaft 21.

When the pedals are in their inoperative position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 9

the stud 91 is in such a position that they cord 90 is tightly drawn about the pulley 93. Rotation of the crank pin 39 will then draw the pulley 93 rearwardly, thus swing- .ing the arm 20 and operating the movable leaf 12. When the pedals are swung outwardly the stud 91 is moved much closer to the pulley 93, thus slackening the cord 90 to such an extent that the cord will not interfere in any way with the operation of the bellows by the pedal 17.

lVhile the mechanism is herein shown as actuating the bellows of a vmusical instrument, it will be obvious that the same mechanism is applicable to any machine in which a combination of power and pedal actuated devices are used to oscillate a movable member.

Having thus described several forms of my invention it will be evident that other changes and modifications can be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as set forth in the claims, and I do not wish to be otherwise limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is 1. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a movable member, pedal-opera-ted means for actuating said member, said means being movable to operative and inoperative positions, a motor for actuating said member by power, and connections between said pedal-operating means, said motor, and said member, said connections automatically establishing driving relation between said motor and said member when said pedals are moved to inoperative posi tion.

2. In a device of the character described, a movable member, pedal-operated means for actuating said member, said means being movable to operative and inoperative positions, a motor for actuating said member by power, and connections between said pedal-operating means, said motor, and said member, said connections automatically rendering said motor drive inoperative when the pedals are moved to operative position.

3. In a device of the character described, in combination, a movable member, pedaloperated means for actuating said member, said means being movable to operative and inoperative positions, a motor for actuating said member by power, and connections between said pedal-operating means, said motor, and said member, said pedals being effective, when moved to inoperative position, to thereby establish driving connection between the motor and the member, and when moved to. operative position to disconnect the motor drive.

1. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a movable member, pedal-operated means for actuating said member, said means being movable to operative and inoperative positions, a motor for actuating said. member by power, and connections between said pedal-operating means, said motor, and said member, all parts of said connections being permanently united, and being rendered operative or inoperative by changes in the positions of said pedal-operated means.

5. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a movable member, pedaloperated means for actuating said member, said means being movable to operative and inoperative positions, a motor for actuating said member by power, and connections between said pedal-operating means, said motor, and said member, said connections including a driving link actuated by said motor, an intermediate link, devices con necting said intermediate link to said memher, and means to vary the relation of said devices to said link and said member by movement of said nedal-operating means to operative or inoperative positions.

6. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a movable member, pedaloperated means for actuating said member,

said means being imr-rable to operative and inoperative positions, a motor for actuat ing said member by power, and connections between said pedal-operating means, said motor, and said member, said connections including a crank shaft, a crank pin thereon, a worm drive from said motor to said shaft, driving link connected at one end to said crank pin, a pedal lin I secured at one end to said pedal and at the opposite end to an arm swinging about a fixed pivot, said pedal link having an angularly disposed projection at its free end, and an intermediate link connected at one end to said projection and at the other end to the free end of said driving link.

7. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a sectional movable member, pedal-operated means for actuating said member, said means being movable to operative and inoperative positions, a motor for actuating said member by power, and connections between said pedal-operating means, said motor, and said member, said motor being supported between the two sec tions of said movable member with its armature and shaft in vertical position, and said connections including a horizontal crank shaft, a worm drive from said armature shaft to said crank shaft, driving devices between said crank shaft and said movable member and means to render said devices operative or inoperative.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

FRANK A. DECKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by a dressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

